by lcelum@yahoo.com | Jan 2, 2021 | Blog, Creativity and the Writing Process, FAQ, Lands Uncharted
A few months ago I began a series addressing the question that I receive the most: What do I do with my story idea. In the first installments of this multi-part answer, I talked about writing down everything you know about the idea and beginning a social media presence. Today, I’m going to discuss how to proceed with the writing.
To be clear, there is never a time when you should stop writing. The ideal is to work on your story and your marketing in tandem, so that they balance each other. This will help you fend off the marketing burnout that all of us experience at one point or another.
If you are new to this series, or would like a recap of the full answer, here are the steps in brief:
As promised, here is the full list in brief:
1. Write down everything you know about the story idea. Keep writing until you can’t think of anything to add. [Read more here.]
2. When you’re not writing, work on your social media platform. Develop your on-line presence authentically, in a way that is genuine. [Read more here.]
3. Go back to your idea. Organize everything you wrote in step one into something with structure and shape. Turn that collection of ideas into a plan and begin your first draft.
4. Start a website. A blog is good because it gives readers a taste of your writing, but if you feel that you can’t commit to a blog, then you need to have a website at the very least. [Read more here.]
5. Edit your first draft. Complete this step as often as necessary. [Read more here.]
6. Start an e-mail list. [Read more here.]
7. Enlist alpha readers who will give you story feedback. [Read more here.]
8. Once your book is as polished as you can get it, enlist someone else to edit it. [Read more here.]
9. Decide how you want to publish (indie or traditional) and study the process. Learning the necessary details will save you a lot of time and, potentially, a lot of money in the long run. [Read more here.]
10. Start the next story!
Presuming you’ve done step one and are working on step two, it’s time to return to your original idea and begin to give it some structure. The most common structure, and a great place to start, is the Three Act Structure. The name comes from Aristotle’s Poetics, in which he discusses how every story must have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Fast forward a few thousand years and incorporate the advent and growth of the movie industry, and you have a story structure that is built around Act I: the introduction and development phase; Act II: the conflict and struggle phase; and Act II: the achievement and resolution phase.
If you are anything like me, at this point you’re thinking you don’t want your writing to be formulaic. You’re concerned that your writing won’t stand out, or that it will lack a spark of life if you follow a common method. I wrestled with this for years until I thought about it from the perspective of architecture. If you’ve ever seen a house being built, you know that nothing can be accomplished until the foundation is laid and the frame is in place. So, too, with writing. Rather than being a formula, the Three Act Structure is the framework. What you build around it is up to you, and can be as original and inventive as you like.
I had originally planned to go into a discussion about the Three Act Structure here, but I’m already coming to the end of my word count, and there are countless resources out there to help with this, so I’ll list some of my favorites for you to explore:
The Snowflake Method by Randy Ingermason
Plot and Structure by James Scott Bell
Specifically for Teens: The One Year Adventure Novel by Daniel Schwabauer. I cannot recommend this resource highly enough. It is a one-year writing curriculum that ends with a chance of publication, so if you are a teen who desires to write speculative fiction, there is no better option to pursue.
Of course, there are many more good resources out there, and I’m always looking to improve my craft, so are there any that you recommend? I’d love to hear about them in the comments.
This post was originally written for Lands Uncharted on 3.12.2019.
by lcelum@yahoo.com | Jan 2, 2021 | Blog, Creativity and the Writing Process, FAQ, Lands Uncharted
“I didn’t sign on for this,” I moan as I flop onto the couch. “I want to be a writer, not a marketer. If I wanted to be a marketer, I’d have gone to college for a marketing degree.”
I know I’m complaining just to vent. The fact of the matter is a writer without an audience is only half a writer. I’m tired an overwhelmed, but I know that once I’ve rested I will renew my marketing efforts. I have to. With one million new books being self-published in 2017 alone (Books and Such, Steve Laube), I have no choice but to get back on my computer and make myself known, and a social media platform is crucial to making this happen.
In my August On Writing post, I gave a list of actions I recommend for people who want to turn a story idea into a published novel and promised to go into greater detail as the opportunity arose. The full list (with links) can be found at the end of this post. In today’s post I will address the second step on that list: developing your social media platform.
At its most basic, a social media platform is simply defined as your on-line presence. IF you engage in Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, or any other social media app, then you have a platform. If you desire to be known as an author, you just need to develop that platform a little more, to make sure it contains three key elements.
1) Social Media Apps
Since I’ve already mentioned them, let’s begin here. This is the step that will require the least amount of agony on your part—just keep doing what you’re already doing. There’s no way to be actively involved on every platform available, so pick two or three that you’re already good at and continue to build your following. Don’t post about your writing every day, though. Research shows that people are tired of being sold to on social media. They want to engage, instead. So keep regularly posting content that displays your personality and your interests, and throw in posts about your writing once a week or so.
2) A Website (with an optional blog)
In the internet-driven age in which we live, a website is absolutely crucial. People need to be able to find you in a web-based space where your writing can be showcased without having to compete with others who share the same cyberspace.
The purpose of your website is to showcase your writing, and a blog is a great way for new authors to do this. While conventional wisdom is shifting in the majority’s opinion about the necessity of a blog, nearly everyone agrees that it can be an excellent way for readers to taste the flavor of your poetry or prose. If you wonder what to blog about, you can post some of your better writing excerpts from whatever you’re working on at the time. Or you can keep a digital journal your writing experience on a daily or weekly basis. Another option is to join a blog hop or a blogging group. There are also a ton of lists available on the internet; simply use the term “blog ideas for fiction writers” on your favorite search engine.
3) An Email List
Many book marketing experts will tell you that your email list is the single, most critical part of your platform because this is where you build your tribe—the group of readers who love your stuff so much that they can’t wait to read more. However, when you’re just starting out, this can be daunting. You don’t want to invest a lot of money into something that’s only going to reach a few people. Fortunately, there are ways to solve that. Many email providers have sliding rates based on the number of readers you send content to, and some even start out free. Utilizing the services of one of these websites would be a great way to learn the basics of email formatting and content so that, when the day comes, you will be ready to connect via this venue.
Even though I’ve only listed three aspects as the foundation of your social media platform, each aspect is so nuanced and multi-faceted that they can take a long time to master. If you need more information about any of the things mentioned here, some of the resources I access frequently are the Novel Marketing podcast, the Creative Penn podcast, and the Science-Fiction and Fantasy Marketing podcast, as well as Your first 1000 Copies: The Step-by-Step Guide to Marketing Your Book by Tim Grahl, and Permission Marketing: Turning Strangers into Friends and Friends into Customers by Seth Godin.
As promised, here is the full list in brief:
1. Write down everything you know about the story idea. Keep writing until you can’t think of anything to add. [Read more here.]
2. When you’re not writing, work on your social media platform. Develop your on-line presence authentically, in a way that is genuine.
3. Go back to your idea. Organize everything you wrote in step one into something with structure and shape. Turn that collection of ideas into a plan and begin your first draft. [Read more here.]
4. Start a website. A blog is good because it gives readers a taste of your writing, but if you feel that you can’t commit to a blog, then you need to have a website at the very least. [Read more here.]
5. Edit your first draft. Complete this step as often as necessary. [Read more here.]
6. Start an e-mail list. [Read more here.]
7. Enlist alpha readers who will give you story feedback. [Read more here.]
8. Once your book is as polished as you can get it, enlist someone else to edit it. [Read more here.]
9. Decide how you want to publish (indie or traditional) and study the process. Learning the necessary details will save you a lot of time and, potentially, a lot of money in the long run. [Read more here.]
10. Start the next story!
As always, you can also feel free to comment below or contact me at Lauricia.Matuska@gmail.com
This post was originally written for Lands Uncharted on 10.23.2018.
by lcelum@yahoo.com | Apr 17, 2019 | #AuthorToolboxBlogHop, Blog, Book Reviews, Creativity and the Writing Process
As I mentioned last month, I have this thing for how-to resources about writing. There’s something about studying the craft of writing that makes me feel content and inspired, so much so that I have to be careful to make sure that any extensive studying I do does not become a thinly-veiled form of creative procrastination.
Because of this, I’ve read enough that the
basic advice is becoming ingrained and is beginning to sound repetitious. You
know, in the same way a sunrise becomes repetitious because there’s never a day
when the sun doesn’t rise. It’s not that each sunrise is not uniquely
beautiful; it’s just that every dawn contains the same basic elements and
follows a pretty standard process.
This is why I was so surprised by Getting Into Character: Seven Secrets a Novelist Can Learn from Actors, by Brandilyn Collins. I began reading it with the expectation that I would find basic ideas about character development. However, I was delighted to find that, while the book does deliver those ideas, it also does so much more.
Getting Into Character approaches character development through the system of Method Acting, a set of techniques formalized by Constantin Stanislavsky. In this system, method actors use the techniques of Personalizing; Action Objectives; Subtext; Coloring Passions; Inner Rhythm; Restraint and Control; and Emotion Memory to delve deeply into a character’s emotions and motivations so that they may portray characters in a fully-developed way. Brandilyn Collins identifies each of these techniques very briefly, then spends one chapter per technique discussing in detail how to apply each to developing story characters.
I am only one third of the way through
this resource, but already I have learned so much. For example, I have known
for a while that, in order to build a rich plot, characters should have
internal and external goals and those goals should be somewhat related.
However, in the chapter on Action Objectives, Collins coaches readers to state
these goals as a two-pronged Desire in which a plan of action is followed by an
ultimate goal. To demonstrate how this works, Collins gives the following examples:
“I want to never again lie to my husband
so that I can rebuild trust in my marriage” as opposed to “I want a happy
marriage.”
“’I want to hurry my roommate out the door
so I can have some time to myself’ rather than ‘I want to be alone.’”
Collins then goes further to detail to discuss how this two-pronged Desire helps create scenes of conflict that are organic to the story and fight the dreaded mid-story plot sag.
These tidbits alone have helped me streamline my writing process, transforming the plot development of my third novel in such a way that, by itself, this technique makes the book worth what it costs. I can’t wait to see what the rest of this resource holds.
What about you? What new writing tips or tricks have you learned in the past month?
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by lcelum@yahoo.com | Mar 20, 2019 | #AuthorToolboxBlogHop, Blog, Creativity and the Writing Process
I received a package today: a box of books. Specifically, a box of writing books.
Since I’m an author, it’s no surprise that
I love books. My collection would likely disturb Marie Kondo on a deep level,
since there are very, very few I can bare to part with, but they all bring me
joy! Another thing that’s probably no surprise is the significant portion of my
personal library that is dedicated to books about the craft of writing.
I consider myself a journeyman of this art,
but it’s my goal to become a master, so I consistently indulge in resources
designed to help me achieve my ambition. I also consistently buy those books in
paper format because I’m a kinesthetic learner, so it helps me to highlight,
underline, and annotate what I’m studying, not to mention how much easier it is
for me to find my way around a book when I can physically flip through the
pages.
While every book on my shelves has
something to offer, there are a specific few that I return to over and over
again. My top three are:
The Weekend Novelist by Robert J. Ray
This is the resource that taught me the
fundamentals of plot structure and how to use those fundamentals to craft a
story. It discusses character development, scene building, plotting, and
drafting through implementation of the three act plot structure, and it’s
designed to help authors write a complete novel during the course of a year,
dominantly on the weekends. It has been revised to include content from Jack
Remick, who is listed as a co-author on the updated version. However, I don’t
connect with the update as much as I do with the original 1994 edition, which
is my dominant resource during my drafting phase.
Between the Lines: Master the Subtle Elements of Fiction Writing by Jessica Page Morrell
My copy of this book has so many page flags and notes that I will never, ever exhaust its resourcefulness. What The Weekend Novelist does at the macro level of storytelling, this book does at the micro level, specifically addressing such areas of art and artifice as cliffhangers, tension, suspense, pacing, imagery, and sensory surround. This is my dominant resource during my revision phase.
The Writer’s Digest Character Naming Sourcebook by Sherrilyn Kenyon with Hal Blythe and Charlie Sweet
I use this resource so much that the
hardback cover is scarred with scratches, nicks, and dings. I love this
resource because it has two parts: a section discussing names and the
significance of naming from a linguistic and cultural perspective, and a
section of male and female names (with variations and meanings) grouped by
culture for thirty-five different cultures. I have yet to find any naming
resource on the internet that compares with this book.
So there you have it: my top three writing
resources. I’d love to hear about your favorites. Please tell me about them in
the comments below.
Until next month, happy writing!
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by lcelum@yahoo.com | Sep 19, 2018 | #AuthorToolboxBlogHop, Blog, Creativity and the Writing Process
One of the more popular suggestions I’ve heard for becoming a better writer is to study the works of authors who write well in the forms you want to produce. I’ve tried doing this in many ways, including re-reading a specific work until I have it practically memorized; writing paper-and-pen notes that detail a story’s plot, scene structure, character development, or any other specific plot element; and even copy-writing, where I rewrite a passage I think is especially well worded over and over again until I have an internal sense of the author’s word flow or tone. All of these techniques are highly recommended and are said to be very useful, but none of them really clicked with me.
Then I discovered annotation. If you are unfamiliar with this term, annotation is simply the act of writing notes in the margins of a work as you are reading. Sometimes it is the simple things that have the most profound impact.
I had already heard of annotation, and had tried implementing it in my upper level classes to some extent, with mediocre results, so I had never even contemplated utilizing this technique in my quest to grow as an author—until this summer.
A bit of background: I teach high school English at a private school. This means I’m not required to be certified in, or to have a degree in, education or curriculum development, at least in the state where I teach. Instead, my degree is in English literature studies with a minor in creative writing. This also means I don’t necessarily know all of the teaching techniques someone trained in education would be familiar with. I am, however, constantly searching for and studying new ways to equip my students for success in their collegiate literature classes or communication-based future endeavors. It was my engagement in this pursuit that led me to discover a new way of teaching annotation this summer.
Another bit of background: the private school where I teach is very small. In the nine years I’ve worked there, the average number of students in the entire high school has never exceeded fifty. I am the only high school English teacher, so I teach every class: on-level 9th through 12th as well as junior and senior Advanced Placement (AP). This fall I tried introducing (or re-introducing) annotation in every class, rather than just the junior and senior class. Each group received it differently, which is to be expected, but my epiphany didn’t spark until my last session, when I modeled annotating a story for my freshmen.
The story was “After Twenty Years” by O. Henry, a story that I’ve taught for—you guessed it—nine years. My students read individual copies of the work while I marked a digital version on the classroom SMARTBoard, explaining what notes I was making and why. It could be because this was my sixth time through the lesson in a week, or it could have been the fresh perspective brought about from teaching the same thing differently to reach a different group, but for some reason my writer’s brain seemed to enjoy a slow explosion of realization. I began experiencing all sorts of insights into the story and how it was put together. I noticed characters’ mannerisms that explained their behavior later in the story. I noticed setting elements that answered questions about how certain things could take place. I noticed foreshadowing and well-placed details that made the story’s ironic ending work in a way that was most satisfying. For the first time, I really noted what tools an author used to achieve a specific effect, not as a teacher seeking to help students appreciate, but as an artist studying the work of a master in order to gain more skill in their shared craft.
It is one of the most helpful lessons about writing I have ever experienced.
While I have only begun implementing this process (I’m currently annotating Caraval and Legendary by Stephanie Garber), I cannot wait to see how my own writing will grow.
If you would like to try this technique yourself, but are not familiar with the process and/or don’t know where to start, I recommend reading the essay “How to Mark a Book” by Mortimer J. Adler. As I tell my students, it will feel awkward at first, but it will become natural as you grow in proficiency, and your appreciation for a well-told story will grow from the practice.
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by lcelum@yahoo.com | Aug 15, 2018 | #AuthorToolboxBlogHop, Blog, Creativity and the Writing Process
I love writing. Not only the art of stringing words together to make an argument or to tell a story, but also the actual, physical act of moving a pen across a piece of paper. I delight in the smell of paper and ink, the skritch and shshshhh of pen and hand scooting across a page… I adore it all. So much so that I am known as a compulsive purchaser of spiral-bound notebooks and blue ink, medium point, crystal Bic brand pens, simply because the mere thought of using them together has a soporific effect on me.
For this reason, I always write all of my first drafts and edit my second drafts by hand. Yes, even my novels. It’s not uncommon for me to write out several versions of a particularly tough scene, using each iteration to help me move closer to discovering and repairing whatever it is that’s just. not. working. I feel that the act of writing by hand focuses my thoughts, sparks my state of “flow”.
Apparently, this is true for others, as well. Use the question “How does writing by hand stimulate creativity?” as a Google search term and you will find twenty websites that offer a direct answer. Many of them refer to a 2012 study of pre-literate children “cited in the Wall Street Journal [which] indicated that children who had received handwriting instruction had neural activity that was ‘far more enhanced and “adult-like” than those who had simply looked at the letters’” (1). So those children who drew the letters rather than simply looking at them (as on a keyboard) demonstrated more enhanced neural activity. The reason for this, as per the articles, is because “neuroscientific research has uncovered a distinct neural pathway that is only activated when we physically draw out our letters” (2).
What does this have to do with creativity, inspiration, and/or getting unstuck? To find the connection, consider calligraphy, an art form that is popular because it is deeply meditative as well as visually appealing. Apparently, handwriting is used as a form of meditation by many because, according to a study conducted by Michel L. Slepian and Nalini Ambady “fluid arm movements increased creativity (described as ‘fluid thought’)” and “It’s certainly possible that the fluid movements of handwriting could have a similar effect” (3). While this cannot be scientifically proven because creativity cannot be quantified, the implication is that writing by hand can actually help stimulate creativity.
While this may sound good to some, others argue that the benefit is outweighed by the drawback that writing by hand is so much slower than typing. As it turns out, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. According to studies, “spending more time on each letter and word gives the brain more of a chance to process the ideas that are being recorded. Creative ideas take time to emerge, and giving them those extra few seconds can make a big difference (3). Even the reduced speed of handwriting can be beneficial if the quality of what is produced is greater than the quantity.
Again, none of this is guaranteed. Not only can the connection between creativity and handwriting not be quantified, but there’s also the fact that everyone’s creative process is different. Still, if you’re working at your computer and you find yourself stuck in a scene or wallowing in a creative rut, perhaps stepping away from the keyboard and running a pen across paper may facilitate the spark of an idea.
I’m curious to know: do you create your initial drafts with pen on paper, or do you compose at the keyboard? Please weigh in below, commenting on which method you prefer and why.
To continue hopping through other great blogs in the monthly #AuthorToolboxBlogHop, or to join in, click here.
Sources Cited:
(1) Olson, Nancy. “Three Ways That Handwriting With A Pen Positively Affects Your Brain”. Forbes, 15 May 2016. Forbes.com, 2018.
(2) Aguirre, Claudia. “Does writing by hand sharpen your creativity”. Headspace.com, 23 Sept. 2015, Headspace Inc.
(3) Albright, Dann. “How Handwriting Improves Your Creative Skills”. MakeUseOf.com, 10 Nov. 2016.
